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Might be a touch over your budget, but Balvennie, Glendronach, or Glen Garioch would be good options. Highland Park has a very distinct smoke/peat note. Definitely try before you buy a whole bottle.
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Jun 28, 2023 18:42
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Irish Whiskey is Scotch-adjacent (but definitely not like bourbon) - Redbreast 12 and especially Redbreast 12 Cask Strength are very good Irish whiskeys that I'd recommend if you're willing to hop across the Irish Sea. Grassy, oily, lots of apple and grape notes, and a little bit of woody/grainy funk.
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Jun 28, 2023 19:28
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I've had success converting bourbon fans with sherry-heavy scotch. How much is Aberlour 12 or Springbank 10 near you?
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Jun 29, 2023 15:51
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Any of the Balvenie bottles are good, with a variety of price points. Balvenie is what got my dad from “I tried JW Red straight in 1987 and hate all Scotch” to “what bottle are we trying out this month?” with a delightful fork into bourbon to boot.
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Jun 29, 2023 16:49
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I'll have to look at the prices the next time I go out because the stores around here are woefully behind the times in terms of online shopping, but thanks for all the suggestions. I've also seen Auchentoshan 12 mentioned in a couple articles as a good scotch for bourbon drinkers, does anyone have any experience with it?
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Jun 29, 2023 17:43
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ElectricRelaxation posted:I'll have to look at the prices the next time I go out because the stores around here are woefully behind the times in terms of online shopping, but thanks for all the suggestions. I've also seen Auchentoshan 12 mentioned in a couple articles as a good scotch for bourbon drinkers, does anyone have any experience with it? I've had it. It was okay with a weird finish. It probably would have been better at a higher proof but 
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Jun 29, 2023 18:16
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JohnCompany posted:I've had success converting bourbon fans with sherry-heavy scotch. How much is Aberlour 12 or Springbank 10 near you? Macallan is the gorilla for a reason.
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Jun 29, 2023 18:17
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ElectricRelaxation posted:I'm mostly a bourbon drinker with limited scotch experience, so I wanted to give scotch another try but I'm not sure where to start. I do know I'm not a fan of super smoky/peaty scotches (I tried the Nick Offerman Lagavulin once and didn't really like it) and I did a little research this time around so I figure Islay scotches are probably not my thing, but I tried Glenlivet 12 and it was almost too much in the opposite direction and seemed a little thin. I've read a bit about Glenmorangie 10 and Johnny Walker Black being good for beginners, but does anyone have any other suggestions for mostly inexpensive scotches (maybe $40-60 while I'm still learning my preferences) that might be a little more full-bodied than the Glenlivet? Thanks! What kind of bourbon do you like? If you like the punchier, higher proof, high rye mashbill stuff then you should skip a lot of the "first scotch" suggestions (an no offense to anyone, some of the suggestions already given to you) because most of them will probably be too light and thin, like you've experienced already. I would look for something on the higher proof side. Skip the 40% and 43% stuff and go straight for the 46% and higher stuff. There are exceptions but it's a good rule of thumb. (Macallan is a good example where it smells nice but just falls dead flat on it's face when you drink it.) I'd be looking for something not too heavily sherried, more bourbon or even virgin oak aged, because you'll find a lot of flavors and aromas that you're familiar with. My first suggestion would be Arran 10. Beautiful whisky, naturally presented, available, affordable and delicious. I brought a bottle to a work event one time and everyone was raving about it. Even made some new converts who previously didn't like whisky. Another one would be Kilkerran 12. It's a bit dirtier and ever so slightly smoky, but nothing like Lagavulin or even Highland Park. Compass box Orchard House is another good one, super fruity (the name is no accident) but it has a little bit of Caol Ila in the mix to give it a hint of smoke. Friendly and light but still flavorful, not thin at all. Glen Scotia Victoriana is an example of a fantastic high-proof scotch with wonderful rich and fruity flavors from the sherry maturation and the heavily charred american oak in the recipe gives it bourbon-like oak notes. I could go on but this should get you started. Then again, if you're more of a say, basil hayden kind of person, then disregard my advice. 
spankmeister fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Jun 29, 2023 |
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Jun 29, 2023 18:49
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I just went to the liquor store to see what scotch I could get in the $40-60 price range and literally all of it was 40%. I walked out with Aberlour 12 which I haven't had in a loooong time but out of the selection in that price range was probably the best.
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Jun 29, 2023 19:05
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Hello from Loretto KY. I'm with a group doing a Maker's Mark barrel pick. Anyone have any favorite stave profiles?
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Jun 30, 2023 14:45
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anything heavy with cuvee and the baked american go well with their mashbill imo, it's very caramel/brulee/vanilla.
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Jun 30, 2023 16:43
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JohnCompany posted:I've had success converting bourbon fans with sherry-heavy scotch. How much is Aberlour 12 or Springbank 10 near you? I can confirm it's a legit crossover. My pick is Aberlour Abunadh, it's a huge sherry bomb that drinkers of barrel proof bourbon will love. Aberlour 12 is a good gateway Scotch. That being said, I'm back on bourbon for mint julep season.
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Jul 1, 2023 09:30
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Miles Blundell posted:Is there a better smoky whiskey than laphroaig quarter cask around the same price? It's my current go-to but I'm curious to try others and it feels bad to buy a whole nother bottle for a bunch of money and have a worse whiskey on my shelf for a couple months until I finish it. Lagavulin 16 is pretty banging
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Jul 1, 2023 11:03
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JohnCompany posted:I've had success converting bourbon fans with sherry-heavy scotch. How much is Aberlour 12 or Springbank 10 near you? Springbank 10 is absolutely sublime if you can get hold of it
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Jul 1, 2023 11:04
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i've long contended that the Aberlour 10y was far better than the 12y, but good luck getting that these days. Balvenie used to be my favourite until i got a hold of Tamdhu. Strathisla is quite nice as well on a sidenote i tried maker's mark recently and while it is very divisive you can recover it to palatable by airing the bottle and then leaving it for a week
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Jul 1, 2023 11:08
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I had some errands to run this morning so I figured I'd hit up a few of my local stores and see what they had in stock/what the prices were. First place was a store I actually used to work at a couple years ago; since then I've seen their prices steadily rising but I didn't know how bad it had gotten until I went there today. Pretty much everything that people had recommended in the $40-60 range was well, well over that. They have this bizarre sales tactic where they mark up the prices of the basic bottles a ton, and then have the next level of bottles only a few bucks above that, I guess like a movie theater charging you $6 for a small soda but only $.50 more for a large. The worst example was Glenmorangie 10 for $80, and then Glenmorangie 15 for maybe $82. Stops two and three barely had any selection, although the prices were better. Finally, the fourth store had a decent selection and not outrageous prices, so I basically had my choice of Highland Park 12, Auchtenoshan 12, and Aberlour 12 for all about $60, and I ended up going with the Aberlour. If I end up liking it, they also had the A'Bunadh for about $90, which I guess seems standard according to Google. I really cannot overstate how stupid the whiskey market is in my area. There are a couple big shops downtown, but there's no way I'm wandering around there on the weekend before July 4th.
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Jul 1, 2023 18:26
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Gravitee posted:Hello from Loretto KY. I'm with a group doing a Maker's Mark barrel pick. Anyone have any favorite stave profiles? If you like bourbon, definitely try and go on a MM pick. I had such a good time. For those uninitiated, Maker's does not do traditional barrel picks because they are always have the same mash bill and same bourbon. So they come up with their different expressions by dropping in different staves into the bourbon after it's matured which provide different finishing notes. As a group, we get a chance to pick ten different staves to drop into the barrel and 90 days later, you get a store pick. There are five different staves to choose from to create your own recipe. There are over 1,000 different combinations so you end up with something fairly unique. Here's a bit more about what flavors each stave imparts: https://www.makersmark.com/makers-mark-private-selection Grabbing some cask strength as the base of our bourbon  Entering the lake house, the precision of the bottle spacing makes my OCD warm and fuzzy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0brWVJQlUSQ Our seats in the private lake house for the selection.  Blending stave aged bourbon for our recipe  The view of the lake from our blending room  Our #2 recipe was the winner: 3 Pure stave, 2 Cuvee, 1 46 stave, 3 Mendiant, 1 French Spice. Even though I didn't know the other people in my group before this outing, we all were in 100% agreement that this was the pick.  We also got to eat a four course meal in our own private dining room for free  This was so fun and such a wonderful, unique experience. Besides the free bourbon and food, we also got some other free swag and got some limited edition bottles from the gift shop. I got the last wood finishing series to complete my vertical. A great way to spend a day!
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Jul 3, 2023 00:46
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I know this is the Whisky thread but any opinions on rum? I have no idea the players like I do with bourbon or scotch but I'm looking for something fun/sippable on its own. Any recommendations?
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Jul 7, 2023 13:23
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Paul Proteus posted:I know this is the Whisky thread but any opinions on rum? I have no idea the players like I do with bourbon or scotch but I'm looking for something fun/sippable on its own. Any recommendations? Rum thread.
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Jul 7, 2023 13:31
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Opened the Talisker Surge a (now ex-)friend bought for me the last time she travelled overseas. Overall: it's like any Talisker, in that there is definite smoke and peat, but the trademark saltiness is gone. Like, if you asked me whether or not that's a Talisker, I wouldn't be able to tell. It's not bad, mind you. After a bunch of mediocre bottles, this is a solid reminder of what a good single malt can be. The initial sniff and flavour lean more towards smoke and peat, but as it coats your mouth and goes down your throat, the deep fruit and caramel comes out. Best way I can describe it is like a slide, with peat and smoke at one end, and fruit/berry and caramel at the other. It starts at the first end and gets to about 75% of the way to the other end. The smoke doesn't disappear, but becomes less noticeable as the other flavours come out. Hell of a price, though. I think I paid her back about $135 or so for it a year ago, and that's when the pound was significantly weaker. If you can find it in a duty-free store, it's not a bad choice. I'd still rather find that The Balvenie Golden Cask, but it's something different. Doesn't beat the Laphroaig PX Cask for a mixture of sweetness and smoke. If you can ever find that one, have fun!
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Jul 7, 2023 22:03
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Re: Maker's Pick I've done six Makers PS picks now, and I'm really liking the relatively new French Mendiant stave that they introduced a couple of years ago. It's now the backbone of most of the picks I do. Now is a great time to get in the barrel-picking game - while barrels from the OG KY distillers get harder and harder to come by, there are so many others putting out amazing barrels that it's hard to complain. Here are some of the picks I've made this year: Single Malt Rare Character Exceptional Series 9yr Single Malt Dry Fly 8yr 136.6pr Single Malt (This was a surprise - I had written off Dry Fly but this was one of the best American Single Malts I've tried all year) American Whiskey Barrell Craft Spirits Whiskey CQ11 finished in Oloroso Sherry cask Light Whiskey Old Rick 15yr 143pr Backbone 14yr 142pr J Mattingly Light Whiskey Blend "Stormbreaker 3.0" - Don't sleep on Light Whiskey, the high-proof aged stuff is crazy good, with lots of butter and butterscotch custard character that is really appealing. Wheat Whiskey Backbone Wheat Whiskey finished in Columbian Rum Cask Rum (Included because I find there is a lot of overlap between Whiskey and Rum drinkers, especially for barrel-pick offerings) Nashville Barrel 5yr Rum 138pr Plantation 12yr Panama Rum finished in Pineau des Charentes Cask Canadian Whiskey Found North finished in Muscat Cask Copper & Cask 15yr finished in Armagnac Cask Copper & Cask 15yr finished in Port Cask Backbone 15yr finished in Sherry Cask - It turns out that Canadian Whiskey is pretty drat tasty with some age and a finish on it! I find that these really appeal to Speyside Scotch drinkers, especially those that like Aberlour, Glenallachie, and other Sherry-Matured Speysides. Rye Whiskey Nashville Barrel 7yr Rye High West Double Rye finished in Barreled Manhattan Barrel Copper & Cask Double-Cask Toasted Rye Backbone Triple-Finished Rye (A blend of sherry, port, and rum finishes, I believe) Woodinville Rye (x2) Rare Character Rye finished in Amburana Cask (x2, first one was a portion of a barrel instead of our own barrel) Rare Character Straight Rye New Riff Rye Good Times 95/5 Rye (Strange to have non-finished Good Times, but this pick was really solid straight MGP Rye) Good Times Rye finished in Honey Barrel Barrell Craft Spirits Rye 1R01 finished in Barbados Rum cask J Mattingly Rye Blend "Apple Crumble" - Rye moves slower in our market, so I didn't pick up a lot this year. That being said, the Copper & Cask Double-Cask Rye is phenomenal, and those Rare Character Amburana picks mind-blowing if you haven't had Amburana finishes before. Bourbon Whiskey 1792 FP (x2) 1792 BiB Buffalo Trace Eagle Rare Blantons Weller Antique 107 NCF Elijah Craig BP (x3) New Riff Bourbon (x2) Woodinville Bourbon Barrell Craft Spirits Bourbon E78K Whiskey Thief Distilling Bourbon (might be the first barrel outside of KY?) Rare Character Port Finished Bourbon Rare Character Apricot Brandy Finished Bourbon Rare Character Straight Bourbon (x2) Yellowstone Handpicked Ezra Brooks Cask Strength Rebel Cask Strength Knob Creek J Mattingly Bourbon Blend "Short Stack" (The added staves that J Matt uses really add a maple-bacon character to the whiskey, always giving us a breakfast vibe to the blends) Backbone Bourbon (x2) Backbone Bourbon finished in Amaro Cask Backbone Bourbon finished in Vermouth Cask Backbone Bourbon finished in Wave Stave Barrel Backbone Bourbon finished in Apera Cask Backbone Bourbon finished in PX Sherry Cask Good Times Bourbon finished in Hawaiian Honey Cask Good Times Bourbon finished in Tawny Port Cask Good Times Bourbon finished in Icewine & Apricot Brandy Cask Nashville Barrel Bourbon (x3) Nashville Barrel Nashtucky 8yr Bourbon Rabbit Hole Hiegold (x2) Copper & Cask Bourbon (x4) Copper & Cask Double-Cask Bourbon Hand Barrel Single Barrel Bourbon (I really wanted to hate this stuff. Gimmicky bottle, sourced, young whiskey. To say that I was skeptical would be an understatement. Yet somehow, they're making really good bourbon with great depth of flavor. I'm convinced they've made a deal with the devil.) Maker's Mark Private Select Nulu Bourbon finished in Apple Brandy Cask Nulu Double-Cask Double-Toasted Bourbon Nulu Bourbon finished in Amburana Cask Nulu Bourbon (SUPER short barrel, yielding only 24 bottles. 134.8pr with crazy intensity. According to Nulu, straight up the best Bourbon they've ever bottled.) Four Roses Single Barrel OBSV (wish it was one of the rarer combinations, but it was delicious, immediately standing out from the other 9) Jefferson's Reserve Jefferson's Ocean Cask Strength Lucky 7 The Proprietor 6yr Lucky 7 Holiday Toast Lucky 7 The Frenchman Barrel Picks I've Passed On Templeton Rye - All tasted young and thin. Pass. Old Potrero - Really wanted to like these, as I like everyone I've met from Hotaling, but these barrel samples were super funky and downright unpleasant. Heritage 4 Grain - This mashbill won them a bunch of awards recently, so I was hopeful. Unfortunately, these barrels didn't deliver. Kirk & Sweeny Rum - Nothing like their standard product, these samples were dry, astringent, and lacking depth of flavor. blueshifting fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Jul 9, 2023 |
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Jul 8, 2023 22:56
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blueshifting posted:Plantation 12yr Panama Rum finished in Pineau des Charentes Cask This sounds insanely good.
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Jul 10, 2023 02:24
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Lawen posted:This sounds insanely good. It's really good. It has this tropical fruitcake thing going on, along with smoky pineapple. I tasted it again alongside some much higher-proof bottles last week, but it held its own.
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Jul 10, 2023 08:03
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blueshifting posted:Re: Maker's Pick I’m confused, how does one get into the barrel picking game? Are these all samples you’ve tried, bottles you’ve purchased, or…?
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Jul 11, 2023 01:02
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Lyon posted:I’m confused, how does one get into the barrel picking game? Are these all samples you’ve tried, bottles you’ve purchased, or…? They're all barrels I've selected this year - I do the spirits buying for a small regional chain of liquor stores. blueshifting fucked around with this message at 08:25 on Jul 11, 2023 |
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Jul 11, 2023 02:00
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blueshifting posted:They're all barrels I've selected - I do the spirits buying for a small regional chain of liquor stores. Haha okay that makes way more sense. Feel free to save a store pick of each for me and/or bring me with you for the tastings  .
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Jul 11, 2023 05:44
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blueshifting posted:They're all barrels I've selected - I do the spirits buying for a small regional chain of liquor stores. drat, I just thought you were a 90 year old alcoholic on your fourth liver   Seriously, though, thanks for the  Very informative when folks in/adjacent to the industry post here!
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Jul 11, 2023 07:41
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How is Caol Ila 12? It’s on offer on Prime Day
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Jul 11, 2023 11:25
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blueshifting posted:They're all barrels I've selected this year - I do the spirits buying for a small regional chain of liquor stores. Pantsmaster Bill posted:How is Caol Ila 12? It’s on offer on Prime Day It's my personal favorite peated scotch, but I'm not a peat head per say. My notes would be peat/band aids, meaty, lemon, and a decent amount of vanilla/ sweetness. If you want a peat bomb or don't want anything sweet I'd say stay away, but I like the sweetness in contrast to the smoky rubber.
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Jul 12, 2023 01:34
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Caol Ila is one of the main blends in JW Black I think. So going to have a similar taste.
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Jul 12, 2023 02:06
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S.W.O.R.D. Agent posted:Got laid off right before the 4th of July! How'd you get into that? Are they hiring!? Joking, but also not. I worked for a distributor as a sales rep for about five years before getting into the retail side. Starting at a distributor is a good way to get into the industry, and from what I've seen most are hurting for people right now.
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Jul 12, 2023 07:03
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Summer nights are best with mint juleps. 
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Jul 12, 2023 08:42
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As an American who really likes Highland Park 12, is this worth it? I have 2 more hours at Heathrow Or this 
Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 12:31 on Jul 12, 2023 |
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Jul 12, 2023 12:24
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Josh Lyman posted:As an American who really likes Highland Park 12, is this worth it? I have 2 more hours at Heathrow I really like their single releases, expensive, but you're getting it at cask strength. I've got the Michigan Renaissance City release and a Chicago Binny's pick release. I think it's some good HP.
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Jul 12, 2023 17:08
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Josh Lyman posted:As an American who really likes Highland Park 12, is this worth it? I have 2 more hours at Heathrow I'd take the Single Cask or Cask Strength over the 18 easy. e: hope you had a good flight, let us know which one you got
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Jul 12, 2023 17:44
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spankmeister posted:I'd take the Single Cask or Cask Strength over the 18 easy. 
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Jul 13, 2023 00:13
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Josh Lyman posted:I paid for entry to the Qantas lounge and got drunk on champagne and Glenlivet 12 instead There you go.
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Jul 13, 2023 00:15
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MGP is closing their plant in Kansas.
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Jul 13, 2023 19:55
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blueshifting posted:I worked for a distributor as a sales rep for about five years before getting into the retail side. Starting at a distributor is a good way to get into the industry, and from what I've seen most are hurting for people right now. Interesting, I appreciate the info! I'll certainly give it a look.
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Jul 13, 2023 22:42
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Gatts posted:MGP is closing their plant in Kansas. They have a plant in Kansas? I was only familiar with their gigantic facility in Indiana. It looks like they weren't making whiskey in Kansas, anyway.
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Jul 14, 2023 03:11
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